Pick Myself and You, Back Up again
by Angel of Despair818
Summary: Society has finally guessed there is something different about some of the teenagers. Demigods are cruelly taken and enslaved in butcher houses. Watch as Percy and Nico struggle to regain their friends, dealing with pain, memories, but hopefully some smiles too. Percabeth. Solangelo.
1. Chapter 1

**Well…this is another story. I hope you enjoy it and I'll like to let you know that I have a lot planned for this one, so please read! **

I skirted around the edges of the woods, taking mental notes of the slaughterhouse. There was a clear entrance, an open, unguarded window. It seemed too easy…but I dismissed it for cruelty.

What better way to torture them, than to show your slaves freedom? So close… yet so far.

I gritted my teeth and made my way to the window.

It was the time after the war. We had all survived. It was supposed to be good right? Good and happy, and peaceful…and all the action we would get was in video games and Capture the Flag. It should have been that way…but it wasn't. No. The gods went ahead and turned aggressive with each other and began claiming demigods left and right. One second you were Hermes's child, the next you belonged to Aphrodite. Unless your parent was too important to mess with, or they thought they could get away with it. No other god had claimed me yet. Which was surprising, Dad was probably making some pretty mean threats up there.

I threw my hands on the ledge and pulled myself up to peek. Good, the butchers weren't there.

Oh yeah, you're probably wondering what the heck I'm doing. To put it simply, I'm sneaking into slaughterhouses to try to find my friends. What are slaughter houses? Some time ago people began "collecting" demigods. Some mortal's eyes were opened against the mist after the war… some crazy side-effect I guess. Mortals respond differently depending on the situation. Well, these mortals realized that we weren't human. So they began collecting us for our powers. Child of Hermes! Deliver my mail! Son of Poseidon clean my toilet and make me a pool! Some of these mortals decided to take out their sadistic urges on us. Some were afraid and set out to extinguish us.

My name is Percy Jackson and I've been going through slaughter houses for almost a year now, and even then, I've only covered about 300 out of about…300,000,000.

I jumped in, landing lightly on my feet and immediately gagged. The smell in there was horrible.

And then I saw the cause of the stink, and my disgust was replaced with anger. There was a pile of dead kids in the corner.

I forced myself to look away from them and concentrated on the girl's side. I always started with the girls. There were 10 hung up on each wall. None of them had enough energy to look at me. They were strung up by their wrists in thick metal chains.

I found myself chanting in my head over and over, "Blond hair…grey eyes. Blond hair…grey eyes. Blond hair…" as I gently tipped their head up to meet my eyes.

No match. There was no girl I knew. I fought back the biting disappointment that I always got after each visit.

I took out Riptide and slashed their chains. They weren't expecting that. They fell, wide eyed, and quickly scrambled out the window. I watched them go. Then I turned to the pile in the corner. I shuffled over and kneeled.

Meticulously, I began searching them. Annabeth…Annabeth…Annabeth…Blond hair! I slowly reached over and tipped her head towards me. My heart stopped. She looked exactly like her…she was covered in grime and blood and she had a bruise on her pale, dead, skin. Trembling, I reached over and gently, oh so gently, I raised her upper lid…

Brown eyes.

Oh gods…I wept helplessly, clutching her limp body to mine. They were tears of relief, sorrow, and pain. I couldn't do this anymore. I couldn't come so close…then realize I was wrong. I couldn't go through anymore bodies. I would not open another dead girl's eye. But even as I thought this, I knew I was wrong. I knew that as long as I was alive I would never stop searching for her. No matter how many violated, beaten, dead girls I had to go through. No matter how much blood I kneeled in. I would never stop looking.

This…love was like a dagger buried deep in my heart. And every time I dared to hope, and was disappointed…it burrowed in deeper. And every time it did…it took some life away from me. Some desire to live that runs through every living thing.

"Who are you looking for?"

The voice came behind me and I froze. Irrational hope bloomed within me…maybe he had seen her? Maybe he knew?

"Annabeth Chase. Blond hair grey eyes…daughter of Athena." I responded, not looking at him. I was met with silence. And even as my heart fell, I was filled with some sort of burning desperation.

"Piper Mclean… daughter of Aphrodite."

Silence. And I kept going.

"Hazel Levesque, Daughter of Hades… Jason Grace…Son of Zeus. Leo Valdez, Son of Hephaestus. Frank Zhang, son of Ares."

I forced myself to say it.

"Nico Di Angelo…Son of Hades." Somehow, his name hurt the most.

I waited in silence.

Just when I decided that he had either fallen asleep or didn't know any of them he said,

"…Percy?" His voice was hesitant and full of disbelief and hope.

I turned quickly, and…blinked. My eyes filled with tears again…this time, of joy.

"Hera."

I couldn't say anything more than that. I rushed over to where he was, stumbling over my feet in my haste, my clothes stained with blood. But I didn't care.

"Nico?" I asked incredulously.

His brown eyes searched mine, and he licked his chapped lips before speaking.

"Percy."

I smiled and raised my sword to free him…but he shook his head. I stopped… confused. He didn't want me to free him?

"No…"he croaked. "Kill me."

Oh.

I swallowed. "No…Nico. We'll find the others. C'mon. Things will get better."

"No." He stared back at me, his gaze cold and dead. But in his voice was a pleading tone. He was wearing black ragged jeans along with a black T-shirt. But I realized he was fairly cleaner than the rest. Then I saw the bruises along his mouth and neck along with more bruises on the exposed skin of his hips.

Blie rose in my throat and my gaze hardened.

I raised my sword…and cut his chains.

That was two years ago.

**So…tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well…I****_ did_**** tell you to tell me what you thought. ****_That review though_****…Sorry…oh well some people liked my story. ****J**** Thank You! **

**My story is not sick…it's the way the world is and millions of people will do and have done similar or worse things. It's the world that you were born in. Don't worry; it'll get better for them. *evil grin* **

* * *

Nico was sprawled lazily next to the waterfall, staring up at the cave walls. Late in winter the river that passed through the cave had dwindled from a vicious roar to a steady stream.

He reached over and touched the frigid water with a finger. He supposed it was a "Poseidon's Son" thing to be able to bathe in water that cold. The only reason why it wasn't frozen was because it was moving.

"Is there anything important going on that I don't know about?" Percy called from below.

"Yeah, there is a bathtub in your room." Nico replied.

"Very funny. I'm serious."

Nico didn't know why, but Percy refused to use the bathtub. Instead, he came here every day.

"Umm…the Aphrodite children are whining that that they have to be next to the Hephaestus quarters."

He heard Percy sigh.

"Well I guess we should let them be able to get their beauty sleep." He exaggerated.

Nico snorted.

"What about the satyrs?" he asked.

Nico didn't fail to catch the hope in his voice. Even after a year, Percy kept sending the satyrs to look for their friends and other demigods. Since Camp Half-Blood had been destroyed, they decided to create their own. Although the war was over, new demigods were still popping up here and there. But so far, they had only found Clarisse. None of the Seven were found.

"The satyrs found only two demigods these past six months. No one we knew."Nico said.

"'No one we' _know_." Percy corrected.

Suddenly, they heard hooves ringing in the entrance.

Nico concluded that it must be important because the satyrs adored Percy. They wouldn't interrupt him for no reason.

"Percy! I have import— oh Dear!" The young satyr stopped and covered her eyes.

"Are you…decent, sir?" Her voice trembled and a light blush dusted her cheeks.

Nico chuckled and threw the towel at him.

"Thanks." Percy grumbled, obviously annoyed at being disrupted.

The satyr shifted her feet uncomfortably. She kept glancing at Nico uneasily. The satyrs didn't like the Son of Hades. He supposed it had to do with Pan being about life, and he knew that he reeked of death.

Teasingly, he withered the scattered grass at her feet. She jumped and scowled at him. Unlike what other people thought, Nico _did_ have a sense of humor.

_Percy_

I pulled my shirt over my head and walked to meet the satyr. I tried to extinguish the spark of hope in his chest. I knew it would hurt once it deflated.

I stopped and sat on a rock next to Nico.

"What's up?"

She had long frizzy brown hair and same colored yes. Her lower half was an unusual silver color. She wore a black under shirt below her armor and her arms glistened with sweat. She wasn't exactly what you would call pretty, but there was something about her that definitely made you look at her.

"Sir, I –

She began, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

"Don't call me 'Sir.'" I corrected immediately.

She blushed.

"Umm…yes, Percy. But I, I...Found your brother!"

I sat up. "You found Tyson?"

She shook her head and the excitement in her eyed died.

"You have…another brother. You mom, your mother...She d-died." She lowered her head.

I stared at her. My mother was…dead? No, that couldn't be right. I had gone to visit her only a week ago. She had made blue brownies for us and she was fine. But as I looked at her, I knew that it was true. The weight settled over my heart. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the water begin to steam and boil.

"…How?" I demanded.

Ravel, I know remembered, swallowed hard.

"S-he was in a car accident."

Nico nodded grimly, as if sensing that this was true.

This action finally brought the weight of her words down on me. I felt as if I was holding the sky on my shoulders all over again. I closed my eyes and pressed my fist against my mouth. I held back the rising hysteria threatening to escape with a scream. My body tensed and curled in on itself. Vaguely, I could hear Nico and Ravel talking.

"Your dismissed." He said coldly.

"But I—" she protested.

"NOW." His voice was filled with power and she ran out.

My mind couldn't process this…

Their words where just noise adding to the chaos within.

"Percy," Nico said, then placed a hand on my shoulder. I instinctively moved away from him.

How could she be dead? My mother had done so much for me. She had loved me when no one else did.

Slowly I steadied my breathing. Enough grieving, she wouldn't want that… she would want me to be strong. I straightened and pressed my hands against my knees to keep them from trembling. Carefully I opened my eyes and focused on the wall until I was ready to look at Nico.

He was staring at me intently.

"She's in Elysium." He said softly.

I nodded.

"You okay?" he asked, then winced at his own question.

I smiled shakily.

"Fine. I'm Fine." I ran a hand through my hair, straining to focus, and looked around.

"Where's Grover?" I asked.

"Ravel." He corrected.

I nodded absently. "Where is she?"

"I sent her off." He replied. He was still staring at me like he had poisoned me and was waiting to see the reaction.

"She had information."

He nodded. "I'll go get her." He jumped off and walked away.

I stared at his receding figure… and thought of my mother's eyes.


	3. The Accident

**Sorry…I'll update sooner, Swear on the River Styx…Just had to sort some things out. **

* * *

_I twisted against my chains, rusty and cold beside my raw skin. Fear crept up and threatened to drown me. They were coming. _

_Coming for me. _

_A low cry escaped me as they unchained me and I tumbled towards the floor. I heard a chuckle. "Look at this one, quite a good catch." _

_I stared at the dirty floor beneath me. Not again, oh gods not again. _

_"C'mon," they muttered, my captors heaved and grunted as I struggled against them. I would not go in there. I couldn't. It was dark; I had no problem with that. And it was cold, I could deal with that. But the screams, and the moans, they cried all around me, relentless, begging for help and pleading out to their silent parents. _

_They pushed me harshly inside, and I fell, sending agony up from my legs. I felt my limbs tremble with fear. _

_Not again. _

Nico woke with a gasp, escaping the horrible reality that had become a dream now. He couldn't go back to sleep. He knew he would return to that awful place. Luckily the sun came up and he stood. He had minutes to shower before they went.

"Hello. You're up." Percy said while eating and trying to fill his enormous appetite.

"Yeah, who'd you choose?" Nico said, right down to business.

"Um, I chose Ravel, Will, and you."

"Why Will?" Nico frowned.

"Cuz' he might be handy. You know, being the son of Apollo and all that."

He shrugged. Nico really didn't have a problem with Will; it was just that he made him feel weird. He was always looking at Nico as if he was trying to figure something out. Not with the mixture of fear and pity other people looked at him with. Well except Percy, he always looked at him as the guy who had saved his life, crawled up from Tartarus, and the boy who played Mythomagic all at once.

Percy took a bite out of his waffle. "You cool? Do you want to bring someone?"

Nico shrugged. "I'm fine. When do we leave?"

"Soon as I tell them. And when I finish my breakfast." Percy seemed a bit down as he said the last part.

"You haven't told them?" Nico asked, incredulous. Before he could respond, Nico spotted Will and Ravel and waved them over.

"You couldn't wait until I finished?" Percy complained, licking syrup off his fingers.

"Good Morning." Will said, shooting them both a smile before sitting down.

"Morning." Percy said as Nico simply nodded.

"We're going to Texas and we decided to bring you and Ravel along, I mean, if yall want to." Percy summarized.

"Oh! We're going on a quest!?" Ravel cried. Her hair was especially messy today and her eyes shone with excitement.

"Um…sort of."

"Sure. Let me go pack." Will said.

"Me too!" Ravel squealed and skipped away giddily.

"Gods, this is going to suck." Nico grumbled.

Hours later as they were in the car, Nico was right. He was in the back with Solace while Ravel had insisted to go next to Percy while he drove.

"How did you sleep?" Will asked. He fixed his blue eyes on him and Nico turned away.

"Fine."

Okay, Will bothered him more than he wanted to admit. He couldn't exactly say why, though.

"Hmm…" Will reached over and touched the bags under Nico's eyes lightly. Nico felt his face heat up and he cleared his throat uncomfortably, causing Will to take his arm back.

He could say why. Will sped up his heart rate and made him feel as if he was going to cry and laugh at the same time. He made him feel weak, unguarded, unstable, unsafe and shaky.

Just then, Percy's panicked voice interrupted his thought.

"Oh, DAM It…!"

The car swerved off the side as a truck sped past where they'd been. Unfortunately, the car turned over on its side.

Nico felt a wave of fear and claustrophobia as they were trashed around. He couldn't tell how many times they've turned, only that there was a lot of glass and a lot of pain. Finally, the car stopped. Nico found himself looking up at the floor. Carefully, he sat up and crawled through an open window. He didn't have time to assess his own wounds because Will was moaning in pain and Percy was struggling to free him.

"Nico, get Ravel!"

He quickly dragged Ravel out and went to help Percy with Will. His arm was a mess of blood and it was twisted in such a way that Nico felt his stomach curl in repulsion.

Nico lifted the seat off of will as Percy picked him up and carried him to the side of the road where ravel was currently standing up.

"Oh gods is he okay?" she cried.

"Great. The Doctor gets hurt. It's all my fault, I should have seen that coming…a mortal hospital won't help us…what do I do?" Percy rambled.

Nico looked up and two men were coming down. He stared, dazed as one of them merely touched will's arm and it healed completely.

Percy uncapped Riptide and stood in front of them.

Nico couldn't get the ringing out of his ears…but he heard clear as day when that strange man smiled and said, "Hello. I'm Phobos and this is Deimos."

* * *

**For those of you that don't know, Phobos and Deimos are the gods of Fear, pain, terror, and so forth. ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi. I understand if no one at all reads my story. It's okay. I apologize…um, here I go. *smiles nervously* this one is dedicated to my friend, KennyFableHaven. Once you read this…I think you'll know why. ;) **

Not again.

Percy had fought these jerks once with Clarisse. They were basically sadistic freaks, but worse, since they were gods. Deimos smirked and took Will's forearm. He stumbled drunkenly against him and Phobos sniffed disdainfully at his dazed form.

Nico growled and he held his sword tightly, the knuckles of his fist white.

"Now look here young demigod," Deimos chided. "You mustn't attack, or this lovely young boy will never stop screaming."

Deimos had a savage grin; his lips were curled like the blade of a knife. Thin and deadly. His eyes were a different matter, they sparkled with humor. They might have been nice, if the humor wasn't vile and twisted so out of shape that it could no longer be considered humor, but sadism.

"What do you want, Deim- uh…mos?" This statement would have been considered threatening, but Percy being Percy, had stumbled over the ancient Greek name.

"Oh, nothing at all, just a little bit of your time." Deimos said this nonchalantly, but the flash of the blade of his moth said otherwise.

"…And half of your sanity." Phobos contributed quietly.

Nico turned his eyes to Phobos, and immediately knew that he was the one to fear. His eyes were black as ink, lifeless, and devoid of light. His lips were thin and pale, his cheeks sunken and his cheekbones prominent. While Deimos was a roaring lion, Phobos was a deadly snake. It preferred to kill you quietly…and ever so slowly.

Nico felt a shiver crawl up his spine and he clenched his jaw.

Will's eyes snapped open and he inhaled sharply. He looked over at Nico, and he wasn't scared at all. He knew he would get out of this. Nico felt a jolt of surprise. In all of his experience of fighting and rescuing, they all looked at Percy. They saw him as a hero, someone fully capable; they knew that a guy like that wouldn't let you die. But Will looked at Nico, and his eyes held the same reassurance.

"Son of Apollo, are you? I never liked that guy, too bright and cheery. Disgusting. " Deimos said with a slight smile. He never seemed to stop smiling. As if he knew what was coming and he was looking forward to it. He trailed a fingernail down Will's cheek and Nico wasn't surprised to see that they were as black as night and sharp like hell.

Will angled his head away, and Deimos grinned, thinking that it was his attempt to get away, but Nico knew better. He saw what was coming before it happened. The way Will's eyes glinted and how his lips formed a smile.

He spit in the god of terror's face.

Deimos expression morphed into one of cool amusement into one of shock and fury. His lips formed a snarl and he growled.

"Oh no, I'm taking this one first." His maws were stretched over his teeth which were sharpened into needles.

Percy took a step towards Nico and whispered in his ear,

"They feed on fear. Let you glimpse your worst nightmares and relish as you cry and piss yourself." His voice was tinged with bitterness and Nico wondered what Percy wasn't telling him.

"No." Phobos voice was fast and sharp. He stared at Percy levelly, cold and calculating. "Here's the deal. One of you comes up, and you let us feed on you. In return we let you go safely and unharmed." His voice betrayed no emotion and Nico again got the image of a snake hissing at you.

There was silence as Percy considered this. "…for how long?"

Nico looked at him sharply, caught off guard.

"Oh, just for a couple minutes." Now Phobos allowed himself to smile. And it was even worse than him being expressionless. It was horrifying and dirty and it made Nico want to scrape his skin off.

Percy swallowed. "Okay."

He would do anything for his friends.

"No." Nico said softly, and then he said it again, louder. "NO."

They all turned to look at him, and it was like he'd been invisible before. Deimos smiled again and Phobos cocked his head at him, his eyes glittering.

"Oh…I like this one." Phobos said. There was a strangely wistful smile on his lips.

Nico ignored him and turned towards Percy. "I'll go." He said simply.

Percy frowned and his sea green eyes seemed to get a shade darker. Nico knew that he was the one that ought to go. Although Percy would do it willingly and without complaint, he would be scared. And even that, he would carry deep inside himself, but not Nico. Nico already knew everything they had to show him. He saw them every time he closed his eyes. His nightmares, his fears…he could do it. And he would.

Percy stared at him, and it was like all these thoughts were laid out for him to read. He nodded slowly in reluctant understanding. He knew Nico wouldn't let him do this, and Percy couldn't do anything to stop Nico, and he didn't like it.

If Nico had been looking towards Will at that moment, he would have seen the slight spark of jealousy and wistfulness in his eyes. But he hadn't, so he didn't.

Will wanted what they had. To be so close to each other that they could hold a conversation simply by looking at one another, how they could understand each other so perfectly.

"Okay."

Percy held Phobos gaze. There was a threat lurking behind his usually friendly green eyes.

And with that single word of acceptance, Nico took a step forward and gave himself up.

It was NOT what he had been expecting.

Phobos had taken him and peered into his eyes. Deimos had released Will and turned eagerly towards their new catch. Out of the corner of his eye, Nico saw how Will stumbled against Percy and glared at him.

"Why did you let him go?" Will hissed.

Percy looked uncomfortable. "If anything goes wrong, we'll fight. He'll be fine…and I think he sort of wants this."

Nico was shocked to realize that he did. How had Percy known, but he himself hadn't? Just know, Ravel stumbled up, dazed but unscathed and looked in fear towards the gods.

Suddenly, Nico felt a wave of fatigue and he fell against Deimos. He held him upright hungrily. Usually, Nico would have protested but he felt so tired. He closed his eyes…and images flooded into his head.

_Bianca was running away from him laughing, while Nico chased after her. The trees whipped past him, branches and thorns snagging his clothes as he ran. But Bianca just sped along, always faster than him and as nimble as a deer. The woods seemed to make way for her. He felt a sort of desperation but he didn't know why. "Bye, Nico. I love you." She shot him a grin, and then plunged off the cliff. He screamed and looked over the edge. Percy was there, smiling cruelly at him. "Your sister died, Nico. She left you." _

_The image changed. _

_Percy was staring at him with a mixture of disgust and horror. "You're what?" He stepped away from him when Nico felt hot tears blur his vision. All the other campers laughed at him. He swallowed and bit his lip. He felt blistering humiliation…and again, the same desperation. _

_The scene changed into another. _

_"Hurry up, you filthy half-breed." The voice growled in his ear. His breath was hot and sticky against his neck. Nico struggled against the bonds that held him. He felt muddled and confused, as if he had been drugged, but his emotions raged on. He felt fear, and anger, and extreme anxiety. The man grabbed his arm, forming white little half-moons as his skin responded to his touch, and dragged him. He could see every single detail. The way the man's eyes narrowed in disgust, the mold growing on the walls, the cracks beneath his bare feet… but most of all, he noticed the way everyone turned away as they dragged him away. They knew. They all had experienced this hell. _

_Filthy and malnourished, they stared at him with dead eyes. No life or pity, just emptiness, as if their very soul had been stolen… torn away from their being with each slash of a knife, each bruise forming on their skin…but more than that, being treated as if they were animals. Inferior and worthless. Each day spit upon and kicked, with hate and despise so real and thick that they themselves had begun to feel it. _

_The door, they pulled him through it. _

_Fear and pain and tears and blood and bruises and…and…nothing. Oblivion. He didn't exist anymore, he was no one, and he was never going to get out. He was always going to be nothing. _

_Nothing. _


End file.
